Archive for December, 2010

Glad to report that WB9LYH will take the 144.240 Long-Range net this week. He’ll be on @0100Z or 7pm central/8pm eastern from EN54cl, or the middle of WI. He starts out looking NE toward the U.P. of MI and then goes a full 360 from there, over the next 60-90 minutes. Stacked 17B2’s and 500 watts from a ridgetop QTH — gets out a loooong ways.

KA0KYZ in EN33 will be OFF for a Christmas break, on 144.230.
K8TQK won’t be able to operate on 144.250 until the weather goes above freezing in EM89, southern Ohio. If I get good news from Bob, I’ll share it here.

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The Minnesota guys are always looking for more check-ins with their Sunday night 6m and 2m nets. Print this info out and save it near your rigs.
K0SIX is on 50.175, from 8:30-9pm central. Big 6m station, gets out a long ways. He’s located in EN35dj, or about an hour northwest of the Twin Cities.
KA0PQW is on 144.260 (yes .260) at 9pm central. He’s in EN33iu, south-central MN, near the IA border. Another nice signal; I work him about anytime we’re pointed at each other.
Both Vince and Matt are good guys and friends of VHF. Check in when you can and spread the word. Like all of us, it makes them feel better when they get more activity.

We’re not quite done with the Sunday lineup yet. Also have 6m and 2m activity out of SW Michigan.
Sunday 8:00 P.M. 50.150 USB N8QEM (EN72au)
Sunday 8:30 P.M. 144.155 USB K8NFT (EN62ws)
Those times are also central.

I believe the 144.250 SWOT net that K9TMS was hosting from the northern Chicago suburbs at 7pm Sundays is not on the air anymore. If I’m wrong, someone please correct me.

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You have several options on Fridays and Saturdays — save this info it’s of interest. Please help spread the word so the bands will be more active. This is new info that I haven’t previously posted here.

Every Friday at 7pm central time, there’s the Chicago/Ohio net on 144.215. I’m rarely around on Friday evenings, but I did have a nice conversation on the air with KD8IME a few Wednesdays ago. KD8IME is Bob in EN71, NW Ohio. He now calls this net, and I know Bob has a very healthy signal. Bob also went on to say that they enjoy new check-ins, so don’t worry too much about the “Chicago/Ohio” name. If you can hear KD8IME on 144.215 any old Friday at 7pm central time, then say hello and tell him KC9BQA sent you. 🙂

Next up on Fridays is a 6m net from NE Ohio, grid square EN91. This net is on 50.165 at 9pm eastern every Friday. It’s called by Jim K8ZWY in EN91kk. They apparently cover western NY & PA and eastern OH. If you’re within a few hundred miles of Cleveland, I’d check this one out and see how well they get out. This info came from N8WNA John in EN82, Detroit area.

EDIT — Feb. 2, 2012 — Just learned last night from KD8IME that this net has now been starting at 7pm eastern, one hour earlier than before.
Saturday evenings, at 7pm eastern/6pm central, there’s 6m activity on 50.170 MHz. KD8IME is net control from EN71, NW Ohio. He starts out calling to his SW, then goes clockwise a full 360 from there. Meaning SW, then W, NW, N, NE, E, SE and S. He has a nice signal on 2m, so I assume he’d get out pretty well on 6m.

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KA0KYZ in EN33 was the only game in town on Wed. night. Terry said he was on the air until at least 0215/0230, or 8:15/8:30pm central time and he enjoyed the activity. I’m very glad we have Terry (plus WB9LYH and K8TQK) because having more net control options is better.
KA0KYZ heard from: W9RWS EN52; N9NYA EN43; KA0PQW and KB0SPM EN33; KC9GMF EN53; W8BYA EN70; KG0SJ, WB0YNA and WB0YWW EN22; W0HXL EN21; N9AWH EN44; N0IRS EM29; KC0RQH and K0SIX EN35; W9RPM and WV9E EN43.

The early call for next Wed. is this: I know KA0KYZ and myself will be off for a Christmas break. I guess if K8TQK in EM89 can warm up above freezing, then his rotator will work and he’ll be on 144.250, at his usual time of 0130Z or 8:30pm eastern. I don’t know what WB9LYH’s plans are yet, on 144.240, starting at 0100Z, or 7pm central/8pm eastern. Of course, I’ll update next week when I know more.
KA0KYZ is already looking forward to his next 144.230 net (start time of 0045Z, or 6:45pm central/7:45pm eastern) on December 29th. Put that one on your radio calendar.

I learned last week from N8WNA in EN82 about two other nets. John says,
” Todd, For your information.
I checked in to a 2 meter net (144.230 MHz) on Wednesday at 9pm ET run by Jim K8ZWY in EN91kk.
They also have a net on 6 meters (50.165 MHz) at 9pm ET on Friday. They apparently cover western NY & PA and eastern OH.

It keeps getting better.
John, N8WNA ”

Help spread the word and enjoy these nets. It’s nice that our Wed. nets don’t really interfere with them, as we start a little bit earlier.

Posted in Blog Post | Comments Off on Also 2m Activity out of EN91 on Wed. Nights

It’s 6:30am central Wed. morning.
Not much has changed since the Dec. 14th post. The only net control I know for sure will be on tonight is Terry KA0KYZ in EN33, SE corner of Minnesota. He’s on 144.230, and he starts out looking east into MI, OH and IN at 7:45pm eastern. He then rotates clockwise from there. Terry also is in the on4kst.com real-time chat for 144/432 MHz (choose the IARU Region 2 room) so if you want a call, you can contact him there. He’s got a strong signal and enjoys making contacts. If you can’t get on the air until later, that’s fine. There will be activity until at least 8-9pm central time, I’m sure.

I know both K8TQK and myself have equipment problems. Neither of us will be on tonight. K8TQK has a rotor that won’t turn in sub-freezing weather. I had some rain on Sat. before we were slammed with 9″ of snow, bitter cold and high winds. As a result, my 144 yagi and rotor are frosty and neither’s playing well. I’ll need a thaw too. Sunny day in the 20’s should do it. Because we are a little short-handed tonight, there’s a good opportunity for others to create their own activity. If you don’t hear a net control calling, pick up the mic and create your own activity. We encourage anyone to do this at any time. Of course, the call freq. of 144.200 needs activity, too. Main thing is to have many signals on 2m SSB, spread out across the band, in various directions.

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WE PROVIDE: A FREE table with electrical in an area where you can interact with other clubs, promote and recruit new members. There is NO Admission; your organization is invited to attend without obligation.

We are again expecting a large participation from major Ham Manufacturers and area clubs/organizations. There will be VE testing, interesting forums, a fox hunt, prizes, the Gordon West show and more!

I’m not interested in becoming a bulletin board for swapfests. There’s plenty of good sources for that info. I make an exception for AES Superfest because it’s so big. I know guys come from multiple states for this one, so mark it on your calendar now.

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Tough weekend around here. First time in 7+ years I’ve actually had an antenna break. This one was the 7 element, M squared 6 meter beam, up 100′. So I’ve got another item on my laundry list of jobs for the antenna guy, come springtime. We had 9.5″ of snow, from mostly 5pm until 1am Saturday evening. The wind really kicked up overnight Saturday, and the antenna was snapped in half by the time I woke up Sunday. Compared to the Metrodome springing a leak, I figured I didn’t have any real problems.

Here’s what I know right now about the Wed. night long-range 2m nets: KA0KYZ Terry in EN33 says he will be ON 144.230, at 6:45pm central (the usual time) looking east to start. I know that K8TQK Bob in EM89 will NOT be on *unless* he warms up above freezing. For several weeks now, Bob’s noticed that he can’t rotate when it’s really cold. When the temp. gets above 32, then he’s fine. So on milder nights, he’ll be on 144.250, at 0230Z or 8:30pm eastern.
With the 144.240 net, I’m waiting to hear from WB9LYH. I know if I had to operate tonight, I couldn’t. My 144 yagi is iced over, and the SWR’s too high. I wouldn’t be surprised if I can’t rotate either, as we had some mixed rain and snow before things cooled off and we switched over to all snow. Today’s (Monday) high was only 11 degrees and it’s supposed to be zero or colder by morning.

Thursdays at 8:30pm, you have WV9E with his 146.460 FM net. Look toward just north of La Crosse, EN43. His website is wv9e.net, and it has lots of good info.

SSB’ers, remember you also have N9JBW’s Q5 net on 144.220, starting at 7pm central every Thur. night. N9JBW is John, in EN61, south side of Chicago. They run a friendly, active net and enjoy new check-ins. John starts out calling to his east and I believe he goes clockwise from there.